Is what the foster care system is doing really helping these children or are they just setting them up for failure? Although many people feel that the foster care system is the best solution, many nationwide organizations feel that family preservation efforts are more necessary for today’s society. The foster system began in England during the 17th century and was created to help the rich adopt the poor orphans within their community and give them the help they needed. Within months, the laws set in place with the creation of the system had been bent and broken.
The Effects of a Broken System Foster care is a system in which a child under the age of eighteen, is placed in a temporary home away from one’s parents due to physical or mental neglect. Children from as young as a few days old to teenage years are placed in foster care every day. The amount of children in the system affect how needs are met and how high these youths are placed on a need of special care for problems that were developed before and while in the system. Most of which occur because they are abused and that is why they were taken away. Foster care is an escape for those being mistreated.
To inaugurate, the biggest issue with foster care is the inadequate placement of children in the system. Children are placed into homes based on cases of availability and not what their unique needs call for. Patricia George states,
Common misconceptions associated with being in foster care portray youth in the system as orphans. Youth in foster care are supposedly delinquents, and will perform poorly in academics compared to their peers who are not placed in these institutions. In society, these stereotypes are often pretended, but very little people understand the circumstances and factors the youth in the foster care system are facing. Youth in care are often juxtaposed to their community counterparts, to signify the impact of being a ward of the state, rather than being with a family member.
Protecting the child and provide an opportunity in which they will live a close to normal life is the goal. But with so many children in foster care and so little workers, children can be over looked. How can a child live in foster care their whole life? “It has been long stated and strongly held belief that foster care must not be a way of life for children, but rather that it is intended as a short-term treatment measure which, for the children’s welfare, must eventuate in their return to their parents or in legal adoption” (Kline,1972,p.51). Children eventually need to be put into long term, permanent homes.
In the grand scheme, “Foster care can refer to many placement settings, including kinship, care, an emergency shelter, a residential treatment center, a group home, or even an independent living situation (with older adolescents), but most frequently foster care involves placing a child with a licensed foster family (two-parent or single-parent family)” (Martin, p. 109). Consequently, there are negative ramification of placing a child in foster care. There is a high level of children that are placed in foster care each year. It is sad to say that all of the children that are placed there never receive permanent placement.
6 years ago my cousin, Payton, came to stay with us. At the time we didn 't think anything would be permanent. Now, six long years later, I couldn 't imagine what my life would be like without my brother.
The importance of Medicaid, access to healthcare, mental health services, and many more. The article goes into detail about health exams for foster kids and improving child welfare. By doing the health exams Christina and Belva think this will better child welfare and the chances for these kids to have non abusive families for too
Life skills should be taught to the children in preparation for the future. Foster care is meant to normalize the child’s life as much as possible and give help where it is needed. Although the intent of the foster care system is protecting neglected children, it may be causing
Neglecting Mental Health In The Foster Systems Foster care was put into effect to help children out of dangerous situations. The main goal of foster care was only meant to be a temporary placement for children. This allows the parents to receive the help they need to make their home an ideal environment for the child or children. The foster system fails to provide adequate support for children in its care.
Have you ever thought about how it feels to be ripped out of the only place that you know as home? To get no explanation of why your parents just did not want you anymore? Not a lot of people think about this. Usually, the only people that do think about this is children that are experiencing or have experienced this problem. The children’s rights website stated that, “On any given day, there are nearly 428,000 children in foster care in the United States.”
There are many children that are stuck in the foster care system because they do not have a biological family or an adoptive
A significant amount of children in today’s society belonging to the foster care system will never gain the knowledge of their full potential. This system can provide a better life for some children or be abusive and dangerous for others. Ashley Rhodes grew up in a child care system where she acquired a difficult childhood and a failing mother, however, she gained her success today while in the system. Being taken away from your biological family and placed the foster system is unfortunate for any child to say the least. There are, however, on occasion, positive aspects that arise from such circumstances.
Some reasons one might get placed in foster care could be because of drugs, abuse, neglect or even the child’s rebellion. Shandra simply stated, “I was put in foster care because of my parents being on drugs.” Foster care is full of restrictions such as: no phones, no company until you’ve been granted permission, always having to ask “can I go here, can i go there.” Some people will throw it in your face that you’re in foster care just to make you feel bad about yourself. “Some rules and regulations you have to follow are you have to tell them 100% of everything, like being completely open about everything.
Attention Material: Think back to a good memory of when you were younger. Do you have it? Most of you probably had your memory involve family such as your parents. That was not a challenging task right? People who would struggle to recall a good memory would be someone who grew up in foster care. Considering they were not adopted their memory would not involve any parents like most of yours did.